A Look Ahead to the 2007 GymTide

Part I: Sophomore, Junior, and Senior Classes

So as we say goodbye to the outstanding, high-achieving senior class of 2006, what can the Tide fans expect for 2007?   How will the coaches and team approach the 2007 season without the dynamic personality and athletic leadership of Ashley Miles in the line-up? Who will replace her and the other All America routines from the 2006 graduating class?   What will it take to turn this predominantly youthful Tide team into a title-hungry machine by post-season?   Let's break down the classes to see where Bama's coaches will likely focus their pre-season training objectives in order to prepare for the 2007 season.   We will focus on the upper classes in this initial article and Part II will highlight the freshmen after they arrive on campus and experience their first few practices with the team in September.   Part III will highlight how the entire team is looking at the annual Ghosts vs Goblins intra-squad at the end of October.

Erin Rightley

Senior Class

Lone incoming senior Erin Rightley appears to have solidified her positions for the Crimson Tide on balance beam and floor exercise after a very successful junior year.   However, she will be up against some tough pre-season competition with her teammates on both events as she prepares for her final year.   In order to remain in the title hunt for 2007, the Tide coaches will have little choice but to compete six floor routines that have at least one E tumbling pass, so this is where Erin will have to work diligently in the off-season to upgrade.   She has trained a double layout in previous off-seasons with the Tide coaches and only a recurring sore hip has kept her from showcasing this skill.   If she can overcome this training ache, look for a more dynamic tumbling routine in 2007.   On the balance beam, it's all about hitting the skills consistently and eliminating bobbles to get the high score.   Despite falling on this event at Super Six, Erin has improved tremendously in terms of her confidence and overall execution on the beam, which likely will influence the coaches as they seek to plant veterans in the line-up to balance the relative inexperience of the sophomore and freshman classes.  

Kaitlin White

Junior Class

With the graduation of five top seniors this past season, 2007 is the year that the Tide coaches expect to see more contributions from Kaitlin White .   It should be noted that Kaitlin was slowed her freshman year after entering pre-season with a post-surgical recovery condition.   However, by the end of 2005 she had earned a regular spot in the vault line-up and was providing depth on uneven bars and floor.   Her sophomore year saw a return to the vault line-up and increased time on the uneven bars and floor exercise.   A more difficult dismount off the bars and a new floor routine are reportedly in the works for Kaitlin in the upcoming pre-season training.    

Terin Humphrey

Terin Humphrey was meteoric at times during her freshman season, finishing with three 1 st Team All America titles and the uneven bars individual title at the 2005 NCAA Championships.   However, a subsequent, well-deserved full summer off from training unfortunately delayed her reclaiming certain skills in the 2006 pre-season that eventually led to less than stellar performances at times throughout her sophomore season.   Continued upgrades on uneven bars and vault will likely be the coaches' primary focus once the fall training season begins but meanwhile Terin is expected to be on campus this summer for school and volunteer workouts.   Terin will also train a new floor routine for her junior year.

Sophomore Class

Brittany Magee is expected to focus during the off-season on upgrading her uneven bars routine to prepare for regular all around competition in 2007.   She exhibited twice on this event in 2006 and scored a 9.75, so more reps this summer and fall should put her in good position to regain her elite skills on this event.   Alabama will need this added depth with the departure of three All America bars workers (Mari Bayer, Dana Filetti, Ashley Miles).   We also expect to see some upgrades on the balance beam from Brittany 's 2005 elite routines, which may include a split leap full turn or a split leap to back tuck combination.   Brittany's preference for starting the beam rotation off tends to hinder her garnering the higher score, so a little more difficulty could seal the deal for a 9.90 or higher score on a regular basis, given her excellent form and consistency on this event.   

Brittany Magee

Melanie Banville is participating in "distance learning" via the University of Alabama's web instructional resources while training in her native Canada this summer.   Melanie finished on a high note in 2006 and appears to have the confidence now to reincorporate some of her more challenging elite skills into her vault, beam and uneven bars routines for 2007.   For example, we would expect to see a return of her double pike dismount off the balance beam that she was training consistently during pre-season and perhaps a Yurchenko 1.5 or Podkopayeva vault for her sophomore year, both of which she competed at the 2005 Canadian Nationals.  

Look for Courtney Priess to continue pushing for a regular position in the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise line-ups. Word up is that she may be adding a second release move (pike Jaeger) on the bars to go along with her Tkatchev.    There's no doubt that she has the skills, form and desire, she just needs to increase her consistency in executing full routines to show the coaches she can be relied upon each week.   Court remains one of the best-conditioned Tide gymnasts and sets a strong example for her teammates, so perhaps we can expect to see some interesting upgrades this fall on all four events.  

Cassie Martin

Cassie Martin actually surprised several pre-season pundits that claimed she would be limited in the all around her freshman year after back problems interfered with her making it to JO Nationals in 2005.   Cassie was expected to contribute only in two events but by mid-season the Olney, Maryland native was exhibiting her new Omeliantchik vault with impressive results and had already contributed high scores during earlier meets on balance beam (9.90), uneven bars (9.875) and floor exercise (9.875).   And despite very impressive form and difficulty, inconsistency unfortunately became Cassie's nemesis on beam and floor by early February.   Fortunately, she became very reliable on the uneven bars, making the line-up throughout the regular and post-season.   The coaches will look for greater consistency in the off-season and may tweak some of her leap and tumbling combinations on certain events.   Look for a new balance beam and uneven bars dismount to increase her scoring range on these events as well.   Cassie's Omeliantchik vault will likely receive extra focus in the pre-season as well to ensure it is competition-ready by January 2007.  

Ashley O'Neal

Ashley O'Neal was definitely a pleasant surprise for the Crimson Tide in 2007 and is expected to showcase more difficulty on the floor and balance beam this next season.   O'Neal will also have more time to refine her pike ½ twist vault in the off-season.   This could become a very important contribution to the Tide's line-up on this event as Ashley has amazing power that just needs to be polished for maximum scoring results.

Bianca Puello is the question mark in everyone's mind and the fans who followed her successful Junior Olympic career were anxious to see her perform for the Tide as a freshman.   But mid-season ankle surgery in 2006 precluded this and we will first have to observe her pre-season workouts before speculating on her contributions for 2007.   It should be noted that Bianca worked out all four events during the fall of 2005 but was slowed in her conditioning from a summer 2005 car accident.   Some of her skills included a ½ in ½ out dismount on the uneven bars and a split leap full (beam) and double twist dismount off the balance beam.   Hopefully Bianca will be ready to go this fall.

Amanda Montgomery

Amanda Montgomery was a top recruitable in 2004-05 and turned down full scholarships at other schools in order to walk on at Alabama for the chance to compete for her parents' alma mater.   Amanda exhibited on uneven bars at Penn State during the 2006 season and was routine ready on balance beam and floor exercise.   Amanda's best chances to contribute in 2007 would definitely be balance beam and floor exercise.   She throws unique skills on the beam with impressive confidence (front aerial to side aerial combination; one-handed back handspring to a wolf full jump).

Ashley Ford was one of the Tide's hardest workers in the gym during the pre-season, coming in to fall camp in fantastic condition.   Ashley demonstrated more confidence on the balance beam during fall pre-season practices and hit her routine at the October intra-squad to the delight of her teammates.   The laid out Tsukahara appears to be her best chance to penetrate the vault line-up, so we expect that she will focus her efforts on this event along with balance beam during fall workouts.

Part II: Coming in Late September - early October.  

Melanie-Banville
Courtney Priess	Bianca Puello
Ashley Ford